“The Covenant” (**1/2 out of four) was a relatively sturdy action potboiler set during the war in Afghanistan in which an injured sergeant (Jake Gyllenhaal) risks his life to return to enemy territory to save the interpreter (Dar Salim) who previously saved his life when he was wounded behind enemy lines. Newly serious effort from pulp director Guy Ritchie succeeds as an action thriller but falls short in terms of script and story, leaving this sometimes explosive thriller with a cloudy sense of detachment. No relation to the 2006 Renny Harlin movie of the same name.